Visiting Maastricht

This past weekend I visited Maastricht, Netherlands with a group of students from the immersion program. We took a train from Cologne, made two connecting stops, and then arrived around noon in Maastricht. The train ride went by quickly on account of having met a few Americans who also happened to be a part of the immersion program. I met a guy named Nic who was from Seattle and we got to talking about our university studies; Nic graduated a few months ago in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Renewable Energy. We passed the time talking about our states' energy infrastructures, the renewable energy outlook for the US, and energy comparisons between the US and Germany. The conversation was a bit ironic; while we were talking about the natural gas boom in the US we were seeing wind farms in the distance and solar panels right outside our window.

When we arrived to the station in Maastricht, everyone just kind of went their own way. Our coordinator, Stefan, gave us all one hour to get some lunch before meeting back up for a city tour. What better way to kill an hour than to grab a bite to eat? The group of Americans (me included) went to a small cafe across the street. Funny enough, we all ordered chocolate milk and waffles. It ended up being one of the most delicious meals I've had in Europe. The chocolate milk came out in a mug with whipped cream overflowing, and the waffles were smothered in fresh peaches, pineapples, blueberries, powered sugar, and whipped cream. It was awesome.

The tour began shortly after we finished our meal. We walked all through the city center and visited a few churches. I was blown away by the architecture of the churches. Just viewing the churches from outside, on the street, was amazing, but once I stepped into them....wow. I was especially blown away with the stained glass in the churches. The colors were so vivid in person, and the attention to detail was perfect.

We continued after visiting the churches and took a snack break in the city center. I was craving another waffle, so I went and found a stand selling "specialty" waffles. I wasn't really sure what "specialty" warranted, but I went anyway in search of a delicious snack. That's exactly what I found: a fresh waffle with melted chocolate inside and vanilla ice cream piled on top. The waffle didn't exist long enough for me to take a picture of it...but it was amazing.

The next stop we made on the tour was some type of important building; I never did catch the significance of it...but here's a picture my friend Tamila from Uzbekistan  (center) snapped and gave me. She called the picture a "Tamila Sandwich" since we've got two Nathans on the outside. I'm on the right, and the other Nathan is actually a Mathematics graduate from Ohio who likes to play ping pong. Go figure. We talked about math...and ping pong, for a while.

We spent a good 7 hours in Maastricht before it was time to head back to Cologne. On the walk back to the train station, I met a guy from Kenya who also was part of the immersion program. He is here in Germany working on his PhD. in Pharmacology with the intent to go back to Kenya in a few years and conduct drug research. We talked all the way back to Cologne--in German--about all different kinds of topics. We talked about our favorite music, movies, and tv shows, but also talked about our cultures and where we come from. I asked him about the Kalenjin tribe in Kenya, the famous Kenyan tribe which consistently produces the world's best long distance runners (look them up on Google if you haven't heard of them--really interesting history). He told me his friend, Sammi, is actually a member of the tribe and is taking part in the immersion program too, so we got to meet before departing at the station.

The trip to Maastricht went by fast but was great nonetheless. I ate some delicious food, took in some great sights, and met some really interesting people. Now I can cross off "Visiting the Netherlands" on my "To-Do while in Europe" list!